Rear guard for the blade of a skate



Dec. 22, 1964 A. FlsET REAR GUARD FOR THE BLADE OF A SKATE Filed Jan. 24, 1963 lllum INVENTOR.

United States Patent Ofiice 3,162,458 REAR GUARD FGR THE BLADE OF A SKATE Andr Fiset, Ville dAnjou, Quebec, Canada, assignor to St. Lawrence Manufacturing Company, Inc, Gitfard, Quebec, Canada, a corporation of Canada Filed .ian. 24, 1963, Ser. No. 253,688 1 Claim. (Cl. 280-11.12)

The present invention relates to a guard or protector intended to be used as a protective device and mounted at the rearward extremity of the blade of a skate.

The blades of skates in common use today, are made up of a flat portion over which sits a tube-like part; the tube-like formation ending, however, into a fiat portion as it nears the end of the blade. Therefore, both the rearward end of the blade and the rearward end of the tube-like upper part terminate in a relatively sharp edge. This sharp edge may cause severe injury if the wearer should happen to accidentally hit another skater therewith or, during a fall and particularly at hockey games, whenever a player accidentally falls over this sharp rearward end of the blade.

It is therefore a main object of the invention to overcome the above mentioned accident hazard by providing a guard or protector which will present bulging areas instead of narrow sharpened edges.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a guard or protector of the above described type which will quite effectively reduce the gravity of accidents wherein the rearward ends of the blades are involved.

Yet another object of the invention consists in the provision of a guard or protector for the rear flat end of skate blades which can easily be manufactured and adjusted over the blade at a relatively low cost so that the total manufacturing cost of the skates will not be increased to any noticeable extent.

It is possible to attain the above mentioned objects with a guard or protector, for the rear fiat ends of the blade of a skate, made according to the invention and comprising: a body which is generally yoke-shaped in cross-section and which is intended to be mounted over the rear end of the blade in saddle fashion. The end of the said body coincides with the rearward extremity of the blade and is closed and, further, is formed with a bulge at the closed end so as to present a wide front area and a wide top area.

Further objects and other advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds having regard to a preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective elevation view of a skate mostly shown in dotted lines, the part shown in full lines including the guard or protector of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal elevation view of the rearward end of a blade over which is mounted the guard or protector made according to the invention, the latter protector being shown in cross-section.

FIG. 3 illustrates a rearward end of a skate provided with a guard according to the invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-section view along line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 1 illustrates a boot 1 provided with the usual blade structure 3 the rearward end of which is equipped with a protector or guard 5 according to the invention. As is known, the blade proper is made up of an elongated flat blade portion 7 over which is mounted a tube-like 3,162,458 Patented Dec. 22, 1964.

formation 9 made up of an upper cylinder 11 axially slitted at the lower end thereof and two downwardly projecting fiat extensions 13 integral with cylinder 11. Normally, the flat blade portion 7 will abut the inner face of cylinder 11 and the flat extensions 13 will be spot welded as at 15 so as to integrate the plate portion to the tube-like upper part.

The guard or protector 5 is intended to generally adapt the same shape and for that purpose it is provided with an upper cylindrical portion 17 equally slotted axially at the lower part thereof with a pair of spaced flat extensions 19 depending from the slot of the cylindrical portion. As best illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the rearward end 21 of the guard is closed and formed with a bulge presenting a wide frontal area 23 as well as an equally Wide top area 25.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, guard or protector 5 is secured to the blade in any known manner such as by spot welding as at 27.

As will be realized, any standard skate may be provided with such a protector or guard as all that is required is that it be slid over the blade and welded into position. The advantage inherent with such a protector is that it will permit any blows to be fed over a much wider area thus avoiding dangerous and severe cuts.

Although a specific embodiment of the invention has just been described, it will be realized that modifications thereto may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope thereof as set forth in the appended claim.

I claim:

A guard for the rear end of the blade assembly of a skate, said assembly including a substantially flat blade part and a tube-like upper supporting part holding said fiat blade part and being mounted thereon in saddle fashion, said tube-like upper supporting part terminating short of the rear end of said flat blade part, said guard comprising: a body generally yoke-shaped in cross-section and having a tube-like upper guard part having a closed end and formed to fit over the tube-like upper supporting part of said blade assembly, and two spaced parallel fiat extensions integral with and depending from said tubelike upper guard part, said depending portions extending from said closed end of said upper guard part and formed to fit over and be secured to said flat part of said blade assembly, said closed end of said upper guard part corresponding with the rearward extremity of said blade, the open end of said tube-like upper guard part and the corresponding ends of said depending extensions thereof being disposed to fit over the rear end of said blade assembly to a position inwardly with respect to said terminal end of said tube-like supporting part of said blade assembly, the closed end of said body being formed with a portion which bulges outwardly with respect to said tube-like upper guard part to present a wide front area and wide top area relatively to the thickness of the flat part of said blade assembly, said areas having rounded lateral edges.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,771,755 7/30 Heath 280-11.17 2,466,475 4/49 Planert 280-11.38 3,026,119 3/62 Bauer 28011.18 3,041,080 6/62 Couture 28011.12 3,095,208 6/63 Shaw 280-1117 A. HARRY LEVY, Primary Examiner. 

